Why and How??

I had been debating whether on not to post this for weeks but decided to share it with all those interested... We all get asked at one point or another why? As in why do you do bodybuilding and how do you stay motivated. I had a guy from my office ask me why would you be so stupid as to put your body through such punishment for no reason, I said everyone has a reason some may have the same reason many have they're own unique reasons to compete... I thought this quite an odd question coming from a guy who A. plays soccer!! and B. is a marathon runner... I am asked him why would anyone run 26 miles unless they were being chased by someone with a knife!! that ended our conversation... The why is no secret as I said everyone has they're reason for me it is simply the challenge and my competitive nature. What I wanted to talk about more is the "how" the big question is "how do you stay motivated"? One of the main motivators for everyone has to be also the reason you are involved in the sport to begin with, but there are other motivating factors for all of us. For me the single biggest motivator is my son Carter, many of you know his story and know our relationship for those of you that don't I'll keep it as brief as possible.

Carter now 11 has Cerebral Palsy (CP)

 " Cerebral palsy (CP) is a disorder that affects muscle tone, movement, and motor skills (the ability to move in a coordinated and purposeful way). Cerebral palsy can also lead to other health issues, including vision, hearing, and speech problems, and learning disabilities.
CP is usually caused by brain damage that occurs before or during a child's birth, or during the first 3 to 5 years of a child's life. There is no cure for CP, but treatment, therapy, special equipment, and, in some cases, surgery can help a child who is living with the condition."

I won't get into the details of how but he has had CP from the age of 2 months... Since then I have watched this  little guy struggle to do most everything we all take as routine but he finds a way to do it, he is the most determined person I have ever met in my life... He adapts and finds alternative ways to do things impressing us everyday and all the while keeping the most positive and upbeat attitude of anyone around! So when I think about how difficult my training may be on a given day or I am struggling with my diet I think about how hard he has to work to do things with never a single complaint! watching him go through day to day life makes bodybuilding look easy in comparison.

When I step on stage in Montreal in October it will be in big part do to the motivation he has given me!

here are a few exaples of determination....

Baseball at challenger park.

Helping mow the lawn.

Helping shovel the driveway.

watching this makes a few sets of 10 seem pretty easy!

Week #4 Update

Well time is starting to fly by and I'm already well into my contest prep, starting to see results my weight was 208 last Monday and can really see the difference already. I was on vacation last week and it was also stampede week here in Calgary so a real test for the diet and training! It went very well, stayed on track with both diet and training regardless of the many temptations I encountered. The choice at Stampede between Bloomin Onion and Chicken and  Almonds was not easy!!

We had an awesome day at Stampede mostly spent on the rides in the Midway with the kids.

Also had a great day at Sylvan Lake on the beach and a couple days just relaxing around the house. looking forward to the next few weeks and more changes!



14 Weeks and Counting

Had an awesome Canada Day Weekend started off by kick ass quad/calves workout to wrap up a great week of training. On Friday evening we had a few friends over and I had my first cheat meal now two weeks into diet, chicken and beef satay, baked potato, grilled peppers and asparagus and of course delicious fruit pizza for dessert!!Thanks to my wife Janice for another amazing meal!!!!!! All in all a great meal and not a huge cheat! we spent Friday evening at Airdrie Rodeo/beer gardens, I was designated driver of course!Saturday/Sunday were great days spent in and around the pool with the family, also saw Transformers 3 on Saturday evening with Carter.

 So far so good with contest prep diet, things are really starting to tighten up already,, I will weigh in and take pics today for my trainers and we will see where we go from here. Starting to practice posing more often now and working on my routine its gonna be fun!

Have a couple more potential sponsors I am working with and hope to have something finalized later this week.